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how to increase brat payload/how much have you hauled

So, I'm 13 and have always been a large Subie fan (long complicated story) and have wondered something for a long time. I know the stock payload of a brat is 300-350 lbs but down here we ride utility 4x4 ATVs and such that weigh up to about 600-650 lbs. Is there a larger shock i could use to increase payload or in some weigh beef up the suspension? How much have you put in your stock brat? I would like to add a lift probably at some point, does adding a lift increase the payload any? Thanks and many more questions to Cole

First, the payload is much higher than that. Not 100% sure, but I believe it is closer to 1000lbs. Second, an ATV will not fit in the back. Well, most won't. They are too wide. You could do it by building a custom drive on rack over the bed. Lastly, you can add coil over shocks or reclock the trailing arms. I have had several loads of wood in mine up camping that were just shy of 2000lbs. I wouldn't recommend it for any kind of longer distance though. No Bruno for the bearings! Lol

Weird? The old ads said a payload/bed capacity of about 300lbs. A second gen brat can fit a lot of ATVs in the bed. I'm not talking a new big bore super wide ATV I mean a 90's-early 00's ATV which wit my research will fit.

I have had 1/2 a ton of wood pellets(1000 lbs) in the back of a gen 2 brat. It is MAXED OUT at that point. I wouldn't drive very far or fast like that but it can be done. For any distance I would personally limit the payload to 500-800 pounds at the most.

True. Payload is there for safety reasons, hence why I said I wouldn't recommend doing what I do. Engineers do have a 20% safety margin so there is a little fudging room. I regularly haul 6-800lb loads with no issues and plenty of travel. I don't go past that with the exception of the camping excursions so I only need 2 loads for the weekend. Really!? You got an ATV in the back of a Brat? Lol We tried a couple different rigs and they were a scosch too wide. One ATV in the back is not going to max you unless it's some gnarly 4x4. He'll, someone here got their Arctic Cat sled in the back if a gen 2. That was hilarious and made me wanna do it with mine! Lol

Generation 2 is 600 lbs. in the back, 900 lbs. total including driver and passenger. I have had probably somewhere around a half ton of dirt several times in my Brat. I didn't have far to go and could go slow. Don't care to do it again though. I carried a Honda 1100 Shadow 35 miles home after buying it years ago which weighs about 550 lbs. It handled it pretty good even though the back tire was on the down tailgate. Carried a Suzuki Bandit 1200 155 miles which weighed about 525 lbs. It did fine with the Bandit also. Don't know how coil over shocks would fit as the shock housing is pretty close to the bed side. As long as your four wheeler is around 600 or less you should be fine.

i met a guy once whole hauled 2 tons of wood with his second gen brat:grin: not including the trailer weight and he said he hauled 1 ton in the bed and 1 ton on the trailer. it wasn't that beat up besides there where a few waves in the bed of the brat because he welded two hitches together and welded it to the bed. and thats not the worst part he used to do this daily because he was hauling fire wood home because he got it for free from the lumber mill he worked. i remember him saying that some bearing on the front was makeing noise so he brought it in somewhere and got it fixed and the next day it came back after work and he didn't know why:lol:

the 300 weight thing is for each person in the brat if i remember right

i met a guy once whole hauled 2 tons of wood with his second gen brat not including the trailer weight and he said he hauled 1 ton in the bed

A physical impossibility. A ton of wood roughly equates to 1/2 cord . A cord measures 4x4x8 ft. or 128 cubic ft. I don't know the dimensions of a BRAT bed but there is no way it can hold 64 cubic feet of anything.

i met a guy once whole hauled 2 tons of wood with his second gen brat not including the trailer weight and he said he hauled 1 ton in the bed

A physical impossibility. A ton of wood roughly equates to 1/2 cord . A cord measures 4x4x8 ft. or 128 cubic ft. I don't know the dimensions of a BRAT bed but there is no way it can hold 64 cubic feet of anything.

i don't know how the guy did it thats just the story he told me, for one he could have put a fence around the bed to haul that much wood, also i wouldn't sugest doing it because the motor started going down hill but it still runs good just rough, this guy lives in the dalles in oregon

i met a guy once whole hauled 2 tons of wood with his second gen brat not including the trailer weight and he said he hauled 1 ton in the bed

A physical impossibility. A ton of wood roughly equates to 1/2 cord . A cord measures 4x4x8 ft. or 128 cubic ft. I don't know the dimensions of a BRAT bed but there is no way it can hold 64 cubic feet of anything.

Agreed for the most part, buy you have to take into account the type of wood and water content. I would not disagree normally, but since I have hauled 1850lbs of wood, it can be done. Not recommended though. lol I haul very large rounds, about 100lbs each, stacked high and the strapped down. Like I said, I only do this camping.

*Disclaimer*: The following should only be regarded as reference/entertainment... Don't try this at home!
Well let me tell ya, I've overloaded some Subaru's in my day. The first instance I recall was in my 79 Brat. I was moving aprox. 80 miles and had a garage full of Suby engines and transmissions, etc. Being short on time, money, and the wisdom of an older man, I packed the little truck tightly with engines and tranny's till the rear suspension was down on the rubber stops... and I kept loading, piling higher than the roof! I don't know how much weight I had in there, but I can guarantee it was WAY more than a ton. I thought the tires were going to pop, but I made that first trip without incident and many more like it. Later on, I got smart and built a trailer. I used two Leone rear axles with Loyale coilovers which gave me 8 springs... that trailer would HAUL!! Loaded it to the stops countless times hauling limestone for my house foundation and beams for the frame. I've seen a couple of broken torsion bars, but I never broke one. Don't know how they did that but I'm thinking they must have been defective.